In selecting Brown University as a site for its Microsoft
Developer Network Academic Alliance, Microsoft Corp. will give all students,
faculty and staff access to a comprehensive package of programs – products
that are especially useful to those in the school’s computer science and
engineering departments.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Under a new arrangement with Microsoft Corp., Brown
University students, faculty and staff will enjoy free access to virtually all
of the Microsoft product line.

Brown is one of four schools in the country selected as a test site for the
Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDN-AA), a comprehensive package
of software programs, platforms and electronic tools. Although the package will
be available to all members of the University, it promises to be of particular
value to those in the school’s computer science and engineering
departments.

MSDN-AA does not include access to some of the company’s popular
productivity tools, such as Microsoft Office, but these products are already
available to the Brown community at discounted prices through other
Microsoft-sponsored programs.

Microsoft, which has been building a relationship with the University for
several years, announced the gift this summer. Other schools selected as MSDN-AA
sites are the California Institute of Technology, the University of Utah and the
University of Massachusetts–Amherst.

“Fostering a strong relationship with Brown is important to
Microsoft,” says Brown senior Christopher Chin, who was hired by Microsoft
to serve as a student consultant at the University. “Microsoft wants to be
part of Brown’s cutting-edge research.” Chin plans to set up
“student user groups” on campus, providing students with a way to
help one another with the Microsoft products now at their disposal.

The MSDN-AA package includes some powerful and widely used products. Visual
Studio 6.0, for example, is a tool computer scientists find useful when
developing new software and building new products. Visio 2000 is a program
engineers often rely on when preparing highly technical diagrams and documents.
The University will be furnished with all new releases and updates of the
products, as well as all “bug fixes” as they become available.
Unlimited installations are allowed, but the software must be used for academic
pursuits and not administrative functions.

Also part of the package – and expected to benefit the widest audience
on campus – is the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system,
Windows XP. Now that Windows XP is available, distribution will take place
soon.

Most Windows-based workstations housed in the computer science and
engineering facilities will be fully equipped with the MSDN-AA package.
Students, staff and faculty members can install the software on personal
computers as well, as long as they agree to use it for educational and research
purposes. Brown, at least initially, will distribute the Microsoft programs and
platforms on CDs which can be checked out for installation.

Brown’s highly ranked computer science department and its many
interdisciplinary pursuits are among the reasons Microsoft gives for choosing
the University as a test site. “Brown developed pioneering programs in
computer science theory and graphics and user interaction,” notes a
Microsoft press release. “Today, students and faculty also lead
cutting-edge, interdisciplinary work in computer engineering and computational
biology.”

“Serving as an MSDN-AA site provides our students and faculty with
state-of-the-art programming tools, the latest in operating systems, and
powerful software designed to make it easier for scientists and engineers to get
their work done,” says Thomas Dean, computer science professor and acting
vice president of Computing and Information Services. Microsoft estimates the
value of its MSDN-AA package at $2,299 per user.